Endowment Loan Aids Menominee Indian Tribe
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) today announced that it has made a $250,000 Program-related Investment (loan) to Menominee Tribal Enterprises, the business operating unit of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. Funds will be used to replace the boiler at the tribe’s sawmill in Neopit, WI.
Norman Shawanokasic, President, CEO, and Chairman of the MTE Board of Directors states, “We are thankful that the Endowment Board of Directors agreed to provide some of their funds to allow us to make this investment in upgrading the boiler that will enhance our mill’s overall efficiency. The Endowment worked to bring the Indian Land Tenure Foundation and its affiliate Indian Land Capital Company (ILCC) to the table to ensure that we could move forward. We’ve had this project planned for many years because of the money that it will save on one hand and because of the enhancements it will make to the air quality for our people and all residents of the Menominee Community. We’re excited that it’s finally underway.”
“This project was a very good fit for the Indian Land Capital Company and its lending products focused on land and natural resources. The ILCC board of directors is happy that we could step in and help make the project happen sooner rather than later,” according to Cris Stainbrook, ILCC board chair.
“We are especially pleased to be able to work with Menominee Tribal Enterprises and the Menominee Tribe on this important project that will ensure that their sawmill that has been providing sustainably produced wood products and vitally important jobs for well over 100 years will continue,” said Endowment President and CEO Carlton Owen.
For more information contact:
Carlton N. Owen, President & CEO, 864-233-7646, carlton@usendowment.org
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) is a not-for-profit public charity working collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic, transformative, and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation’s working forests and forest-reliant communities – www.usendowment.org
Rebecca Onesti, Chief Financial Officer, rebeccao@mtewood.com
The Menominee Tribal Enterprises operates one of the best managed working forests in the nation on the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin’s nearly 250,000 acre reservation about 45 miles northwest of Green Bay. The first sawmill operation was approved in 1871 and began operating in 1886. The current mill which began in 1908 is the longest continuously running tribal sawmill in the U.S. It produces about 15,000,000 board feet of lumber annually and employs 160 people at its operational peak.
Cris Stainbrook, President, ILTF, 651-766-8999, cstainbrook@indianlandtenure.org
The Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) is a national, community-based organization serving American Indian nations and people in the recovery and control of their rightful homelands. It works to promote education, increase cultural awareness, create economic opportunity, and reform the legal and administrative systems that prevent Indian people from owning and controlling reservation lands.
